Firearm Instructor Talk About Developments Coming in 2026

As we wrap up 2025 in a few hours, it’s worth thinking about all the headway we made this year. While the Department of Justice isn’t quite acting like it’s truly pro-Second Amendment, it’s acting more like it than any DOJ I’ve seen in my lifetime.

The Second Amendment is in as strong a place as we’ve ever seen it.

But the world of guns isn’t just the Second Amendment. It’s a vital part of it, but 2026 will probably feature a lot of developments on both the legal front and in the firearm industry.

Over at The Gun Writer, Lee Williams spoke with some firearm instructors to get their take as to what the new year will hold.

Our country was much more troubled and dangerous when Joe Biden was president, but thankfully times have changed, according to several current and former firearm instructors.

“There was a lot more concern about how things were going to go,” said Mike Magowan, chief operations officer for Florida’s Self Defense Emporium. “There’s not as much panic now as there was then.”

Magowan has taught more than 30,000 students how to shoot safely over his 30-year career. He started as a sniper in the U.S. Army’s 101^st Airborne Division and has earned a host of national certifications and accreditations.

He and several other instructors discussed current trends and predicted what will happen in 2026.

Suppressors were a common topic, especially if they finally end up outside of federal purview and can be purchased easier. Everyone mentioned teaching a fully suppressed class.

The largest national trend that’s occurring right now involves smaller 9mm full-capacity handguns specifically made for concealed carry. Everyone predicts their popularity will continue to grow throughout the new year.

There are dozens of models available from a large portion of the firearms industry, and prices range from several hundred dollars to several thousand. These smallish shooters, everyone said, will dominate the market.

“People are looking for smaller pistols with more capacity,” Magowan said. “We’re still riding the Sig P365 wave. There are a lot of people coming in for CCW training and permits. The trend is definitely small pistols that hold lots of bullets.”

Another instructor, Mike Young, argued that the firearm market will be far more stable now that Biden is out of office. Young also noted that a big trend is that people won’t have to worry about the government taking away the guns they just bought. While many anti-gunners are still pushing for things like bans on AR-15s and even on semi-automatics as a whole, the reality is that it’s just not happening while Trump is in the White House.

We all know it. Even the anti-gunners know it.

And yes, those two points are related.

Small, easily concealable firearms are always going to be popular. The more ammo they can hold, the better, because absolutely no one with any sense wants to carry fewer rounds than possible. We don’t get to pick the engagement, after all, so more rounds means more options should someone else decide to pick one with us.

I think we’re going to see sales of firearms continue like they did this year, down a bit from the highs of the Biden and Obama administrations, but still high enough to make it clear that the right to keep and bear arms isn’t going anywhere.

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